US Cup plans new non-UCI-sanctioned series

For those of you interested, sh!t is hitting the fan for national level mountainbike racing. First off, last week USAC announced that Granby, CO will again be the venue for all disciplines National Championships next summer. This, after numerous complaints not only about the course and how XC racers were treated, but in general the complaint about the altitude favoring a very small group of athletes.

Now today, Scott Tedro, the promoter of the ShoAir Pro XCT Tour from last year announced he has decided to forego UCI inscription for his events, thus parting ways with USAC. He will still have USAC sanctioned races around the country but they will be more grassroots oriented with ironically bigger Pro purses. The USAC Pro model requires the UCI designation which Mr Tedro describes as onerously expensive for the very small group of athletes it benefits.

The National Calendar for MTB which took effect a few years ago after the exit of Team Big Bear was supposed to bring the same principles that rule the Roadie nats to the mtb discipline. That being, there is no "national series," individual races that provide strong purses, fun courses, and good logistics develop into "BIG" races that everyone wants to attend, a la Sea Otter. I'm not sure if it was USAC or the cycling industry that had cold feet, but almost immediately a pseudo Big Bear series was back on with the same old tired ski resort venues.

Last year, ShoAir showed some gumption by adding the Bump and Grind and some other East Coast mainstays to their quiver, and rumors were that even more surprises were in store for next year. With their UCI exit, it's hard to say where the "BIG" races will be this year.

I'm personally on the fence for Granby. I like going because...well it's Colorado, and it's the nationals. But going somewhere to race where you know you're going to suck (even more than usual) makes it marginal to want to spend the entry fees, etc.

For those of you interested, sh!t is hitting the fan for national level mountainbike racing. First off, last week USAC announced that Granby, CO will again be the venue for all disciplines National Championships next summer. This, after numerous complaints not only about the course and how XC racers were treated, but in general the complaint about the altitude favoring a very small group of athletes.

Now today, Scott Tedro, the promoter of the ShoAir Pro XCT Tour from last year announced he has decided to forego UCI inscription for his events, thus parting ways with USAC. He will still have USAC sanctioned races around the country but they will be more grassroots oriented with ironically bigger Pro purses. The USAC Pro model requires the UCI designation which Mr Tedro describes as onerously expensive for the very small group of athletes it benefits.

The National Calendar for MTB which took effect a few years ago after the exit of Team Big Bear was supposed to bring the same principles that rule the Roadie nats to the mtb discipline. That being, there is no "national series," individual races that provide strong purses, fun courses, and good logistics develop into "BIG" races that everyone wants to attend, a la Sea Otter. I'm not sure if it was USAC or the cycling industry that had cold feet, but almost immediately a pseudo Big Bear series was back on with the same old tired ski resort venues.

Last year, ShoAir showed some gumption by adding the Bump and Grind and some other East Coast mainstays to their quiver, and rumors were that even more surprises were in store for next year. With their UCI exit, it's hard to say where the "BIG" races will be this year.

I'm personally on the fence for Granby. I like going because...well it's Colorado, and it's the nationals. But going somewhere to race where you know you're going to suck (even more than usual) makes it marginal to want to spend the entry fees, etc.

I'll assume that since Scott, his team and his company are from SoCal, is the main reason those races are mostly from SoCal? Which works great for us Cali racers, but doesn't seem like a "True National Calendar?" It's too bad that the Euros (UCI) demand a ridiculous amount of $$$, USA Cycling can't seem to get it straight and the local promoters are trying to make a buck (This is a Capitalist country at least for a few more months?) and give a quality product to the racers. I guess the bottom line is most of us will never be pro racers, national series are kinda irrelevant and we should just race our bikes and enjoy the weekend?

In regards to the pro level it seems as Scott/Showair may be moving in the correct direction and be able to create a true national series by incorporating additional races/venues with promoters throughout the nation that did not meet or want to meet UCI requirements.

Really for sponsors rather it be bike industry or outside companies there needs to be a better series that hits both coast and between with more races.

Its a shame that we had such a strong national Norba racing series in the 90's and let it dissolve.

I find it fun to race at a national as amateur and then watch the pros race the same course.

If they increase the number of races and spread them through the states more people would have an opportunity to participate on different levels.

In addition perhaps this would give more pros across the states opportunities in racing and sponsorship.

Ultimately only a few pros benefit from UCI points in the states.

Let's hope scott/showair make a better series and add to quality of race series and more races. Perhaps there will be a trickle down effect for an increase in Amateur racing at local series with increased participation and quality of racing.

Does anybody out there know the additional UCI requirements that are in question here? There's over 40 U.S. UCI cyclocross events this fall - are the requirements for UCI MTB events any different or greater?

Will this shift away from awarding UCI points hurt our chances at the olympics? I thought one of the reasons the USA needs UCI points was to determine olympic start positions and team size. Without the ability to earn UCI points stateside, our elite athletes will have to goto Europe to "point up", or be excluded from olympic chances.

What do UCI points and Olympics have to do with anyone on here?
Almost zero.
Except it cost the promoter of a UCI event a few grand for a permit, and a few grand to bring UCI officials to the event....which could be used towards the grass roots racing that we all do.
The whole UCI points thing only effects a handful of people nationwide....and if those people are really serious about the Olys and World Championship starting positions...they should go to Europe and race against the fast guys there...the same people they'd have to face at the Olys and Worlds.

My guess is that they're on the America 2 scale - but I don't know that for sure. Calendar fees look to be in the same ballpark as CX. Less than a grand. This includes the majority of your fee and travel for your assigned head UCI official.

Then you have the Class 3 and Class 2 minimize cash payout schedule, both of which are less than $3000 for the pro men (Class 3 looks to be less than $1500 payout).

NONE of our "national" MTB events can come up with this money!? For "large" professional events, this doesn't seem like a whole lot of money.

The UCI points at US-cups are so small that they are meaningless for athletes and nations looking to qualify for the Olympics.

Last year despite winning two and placing on the podium in every other race Catharine collected less than 100 points in all the US cups combined. There was not a single world cup where she got less than 100 points. Same for all the other top level riders.

Now if all the US-cups where C1s (like the Canada Cups) the loss of UCI points would be a big deal, but C2s and C3s are just about meaningless for the top riders.

The UCI points at US-cups are so small that they are meaningless for athletes and nations looking to qualify for the Olympics.

Last year despite winning two and placing on the podium in every other race Catharine collected less than 100 points in all the US cups combined. There was not a single world cup where she got less than 100 points. Same for all the other top level riders.

Now if all the US-cups where C1s (like the Canada Cups) the loss of UCI points would be a big deal, but C2s and C3s are just about meaningless for the top riders.

All very good points. Perhaps the C1 level fees are the "high costs" being referred to by Scott in the Velonews article. It's a curious decision - hope it works out for the riders.

They are coming to the WORS series for the subaru cup at mount morris! A very technical course on the countries largest state mountain bike series! Hope to see some of you guys there.

I'm not so sure they are. The Subaru Cup was scheduled to be one of the races on the Pro XCT, but since this announcement it doesn't look like the US Cup is necessarily still a part of all of those races. There is no Wisconsin race on the US Cup schedule right now.

edit: sounds like it'll still be part of the Pro XCT, it just won't be part of the US Cup.

The one hiccup in the logic of ignoring the Olympic oriented pros and UCI points is that the riders like Adam Craig, JHK and Willow Koerber that are referenced in the Cycling News article can compete in World Cup races to gain UCI points but they are up against more competition and are not likely to earn as many UCI points in World Cup races as they might in Class 1 North American races. It's the old big fish/small pond versus small fish/big pond thing. You'd think that they'd like to be able to build up UCI points in the US series if they are working toward being on the US Olympic team or even the World Championships.

All very good points. Perhaps the C1 level fees are the "high costs" being referred to by Scott in the Velonews article. It's a curious decision - hope it works out for the riders.

I don't really know what fees Scott is referring too. Two years ago I helped organize a C1 event (it was 500m from my house) the big cost was the prize money that has to be handed out. UCI rules make sure that prize money goes pretty deep, organizers like to give lots of prize money to the top riders and none to the 5th place rider (not good promotion).

I don't really know what fees Scott is referring too. Two years ago I helped organize a C1 event (it was 500m from my house) the big cost was the prize money that has to be handed out. UCI rules make sure that prize money goes pretty deep, organizers like to give lots of prize money to the top riders and none to the 5th place rider (not good promotion).

I don't understand this statement by their media guy :"It's expensive to inscript and run a UCI race. Right now, with the UCI and the cost associated vs. the points we award, we, the US Cup would rather take that $12,000 or $15,000 it would have invested and reinvest it in prizes, more media and marketing and better prizes for the amateurs."

It's not expensive to inscript, and not much more expensive to run a UCI event as opposed to a big non-UCI event. So does it come down to that they're balking at the prize money?

I don't understand this statement by their media guy :"It's expensive to inscript and run a UCI race. Right now, with the UCI and the cost associated vs. the points we award, we, the US Cup would rather take that $12,000 or $15,000 it would have invested and reinvest it in prizes, more media and marketing and better prizes for the amateurs."

It's not expensive to inscript, and not much more expensive to run a UCI event as opposed to a big non-UCI event. So does it come down to that they're balking at the prize money?

Either that or they don't have their stuff together to put on a UCI event.

Certainly the UCI Commissars are quite evident at World Cup events, checking out the details, do they show up for Canada Cup C1 events as well, or do they rely on someone from the CCA to check out the operational and technical details?

There'd be a lot of organizers who aren't as on top of things as Gestev is at the Mont Sainte Anne races (World Cup or Nationals).

Certainly the UCI Commissars are quite evident at World Cup events, checking out the details, do they show up for Canada Cup C1 events as well, or do they rely on someone from the CCA to check out the operational and technical details?

There'd be a lot of organizers who aren't as on top of things as Gestev is at the Mont Sainte Anne races (World Cup or Nationals).

A commissar has to be hired for just about any race in Canada. A commissar is somebody has the training and is certified (my father in-law is a commissar). At UCI races the commissar makes sure the course follows UCI rules (lap length, feedzone, ect...)

Since the Mellow Classic we have been hard at work to make good on Lance's promise for another event. We wanted to get you all some news on our progress. We have made an application to host a National Calender event at the Ranch on the weekend of May 29-30 2010. We will move forward with a formal announcement and details on registration once we have the final confirmation USA Cycling. Suffice it to say we are looking forward to a putting on an even bigger and better event. Thank you to all of you for your support and enthusiasm for the event.

Of that $12-15k it costs to put on a UCI C1 MTB event, about $10k is the pro prize purse, with the balance being UCI fees. Honestly, if you aren't willing to spend $2-5k on overhead in order to draw the top national pros with UCI points, then why promote a pro-level national event? If they put that extra $2-5k into the pro purse instead of UCI fees, is it really going to move the needle and make that big a difference?

I'm really disappointed in the US Cup folks. Only a couple weeks ago we were sitting at the USAC Promoter's summit in Colorado Springs, and they were all-in, supportive, and invested in growing the pro side of the sport, even volunteering to pay for UCI inscription for a DH race at Fontana. Now one thing doesn't go their way and they're singing a completely different tune. Sad.